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fanboyriot's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A sapphic fantasy where two women who work for witches and take hearts of princes, what more could you ask for?
Strongly recommend for anyone into more lighter fantasy books. This was really easy to read, and there was even a page telling you how their names were pronounced. It was lovely. The Polish history sprinkled in through the story was done so well and worked surprisingly well with the rest of the plot. With the romance there was such good tension between the rivals and soon blended into yearning and the realization that they might have been after each other’s heart. It was so good!!
Sapphic
Villain x Villain
Fairytale Magic
Pronunciation Guide
Angst with a Happy Ending
Strongly recommend for anyone into more lighter fantasy books. This was really easy to read, and there was even a page telling you how their names were pronounced. It was lovely. The Polish history sprinkled in through the story was done so well and worked surprisingly well with the rest of the plot. With the romance there was such good tension between the rivals and soon blended into yearning and the realization that they might have been after each other’s heart. It was so good!!
Sapphic
Villain x Villain
Fairytale Magic
Pronunciation Guide
Angst with a Happy Ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gore
Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, and War
modernmatilda's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fierce monster girls who literally steal hearts and sexual-tension-filled sword fighting FOR THE WIN! 🤘
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It's no secret that I LOVE books with dark fairytale princesses-who-will-kill-you vibes, so I already knew The Midnight Girls was going to be a big hit with me. The book follows two rivals, Zosia and Marynka, who are in competition for a prince's heart. But not in an affectionate lovey-dovey fall-for-me way; they are literally competing to see who can rip out his heart first to bring it back for their jaga (witch grandmother) to eat. And then they slowly start to fall for each other. While growing their magic. At a winter festival. I am HERE FOR IT!!!!!!
•
•
The ending is GORGEOUS and open-ended in a poetic way, the snowy atmospheric setting is delightful, and the representation throughout is fantastic. I wish the title was different (only one of the girls is named Midnight) and I wanted more exploration of the prince's side of the story (especially with Kajeta!), but overall this is my first 5-star book of the year.
•
•
I'm so thankful to Aly for the physical advanced readers copy and Alicia Jasinska for writing such a delightful fantasy standalone (which the world needs more of).
•
•
cw: child abuse, blood, body horror (brief), death, murder
rep: Polish-coded cast & setting, lesbian mc, bi female mc, lesbian character, gay character, bi male character, Muslim side character, Jewish side character
•
•
It's no secret that I LOVE books with dark fairytale princesses-who-will-kill-you vibes, so I already knew The Midnight Girls was going to be a big hit with me. The book follows two rivals, Zosia and Marynka, who are in competition for a prince's heart. But not in an affectionate lovey-dovey fall-for-me way; they are literally competing to see who can rip out his heart first to bring it back for their jaga (witch grandmother) to eat. And then they slowly start to fall for each other. While growing their magic. At a winter festival. I am HERE FOR IT!!!!!!
•
•
The ending is GORGEOUS and open-ended in a poetic way, the snowy atmospheric setting is delightful, and the representation throughout is fantastic. I wish the title was different (only one of the girls is named Midnight) and I wanted more exploration of the prince's side of the story (especially with Kajeta!), but overall this is my first 5-star book of the year.
•
•
I'm so thankful to Aly for the physical advanced readers copy and Alicia Jasinska for writing such a delightful fantasy standalone (which the world needs more of).
•
•
cw: child abuse, blood, body horror (brief), death, murder
rep: Polish-coded cast & setting, lesbian mc, bi female mc, lesbian character, gay character, bi male character, Muslim side character, Jewish side character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Murder
Minor: Body horror and Blood
ramunepocky's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood
nytephoenyx's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I really, really wanted to like The Midnight Girls because I thought the magic/monster-driven concept at its center was wonderful. There are edges of fairytale to the story – the kind of fairytales that evoke gruesome images, not princesses and pumpkins. It’s not gory, but it is dark, and the trio of competing young women was compelling. Especially when we speak of stealing princes’s hearts… and not in the way you may think. That said, it felt Jasińska wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with the story at times – some scenes are powerfully written, but the threads that tie them together are loose and tangled. It didn’t quite work for me.
We have a trio of servants who work for three witches in three forests – Beata is White Jaga’s servant in the Morning Forest, Marynka is Red Jaga’s servant in the Midday Forest, and Zosia is Black Jaga’s servant in the Midnight Forest. They are tasks with stealing hearts for princes for their witches to devour to make them stronger. Almost every time, Zosia “Midnight” wins the race and Marynka “Midday” hatesit. Beata “Morning” just does her best and accepts her place. The Midnight Girls is mostly Marynka’s story of hate and love and rivalry and frustration and finally peace. Zosia’s story is woven in as well, but at the heart, it’s Marynka’s tale. It’s a love story, mostly.
There are a lot of things going on in The Midnight Girls. There’s Karnawal – a winter Carnival festival – and there’s Price Józef’s story with Kajetan. There’s a lot of working relationships that Jasińska clearly wanted to develop, and none of them got quite enough attention, not even the sapphic romance between Zosia and Marynka. For the first two-thirds, I was bored and frustrated, save for the occasional vibrant scene (the ice maze!). The last third caught my interest but it moved so quickly that as soon as things seemed to be developing… they stopped. The book ended.
That said, there’s a lovely review on Goodreads from a Polish reader commenting on the magic, Polish-coded cast, and general setting. It’s a lovely, happy, enthusiastic review and a reminder that there are so many groups underrepresented in literature still, even if they don’t seem so obvious to the casual reader. The sheer joy in this review reminds me how often only the western-most European cultures get mention. While I found the world-building a little awkward (is this real? Fantasy? Magical realism? Jasińska seems to jump but I believe it’s intended to be fantasy intertwined in the real world), it’s clear this book is not for me and it’s made another so happy.
Criticism unrelated to the book itself or the author – this title feels like it was chosen by someone who didn’t read the book. Jasińska stated online that she didn’t title the book herself, so this is not on her. To be clear, there are no “midnight girls”. There is one girl affiliated with “midnight” (Zosia) and three girls who are monsters.
The Midnight Girls is a pass from me, although there are moments and pieces I appreciated. I think that to the right reader, this will be a wonderful read and I appreciate that it exists even if I read too deeply into things like the relationships and the world building and ruined it for myself. I celebrate that this is a YA book with well-represented Polish-coded characters, queer relationships, and dark, spooky sunset magic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and War
mothie_girlie's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Child abuse
halfelfschollar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Exceptional. That is the only word I can think of to describe this book. The story is well paced, making for an easy read that can be binged in a day or read over a number of weeks if the reader choses.
All the characters in this story felt alive and relatable. I can't think of one character that I did not like in some way and found aspects of their personality or story that related to my personal experiences. Whether that be Marynka's desire to prove herself or Zosia's hesitance to let herself be close to others. Even characters who did not get a point of view felt realistic and relatable.
The romance in this book had me grinning so hard! If you're a fan or rivals/enemies to lovers definitely pick this up.
All the characters in this story felt alive and relatable. I can't think of one character that I did not like in some way and found aspects of their personality or story that related to my personal experiences. Whether that be Marynka's desire to prove herself or Zosia's hesitance to let herself be close to others. Even characters who did not get a point of view felt realistic and relatable.
The romance in this book had me grinning so hard! If you're a fan or rivals/enemies to lovers definitely pick this up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: War
_courtney's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Cannibalism
Minor: Death, Blood, and War
nutm3g's review
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Midnight Girls was an exciting and entertaining read, where the villains were given the chance of a romance story for once. The sapphic enemies to lovers felt fully hashed out and believable, exploring the thin line between love and hate (as well as how quickly it can shift between the two). I enjoyed that the author did not set out to write a story where they would be "redeemed" or turn good, but rather let their love and story unfold while they remained true to themselves. While set in a semi-real historical backdrop where Poland and its people grappled for freedom from their oppressors and their right to maintain their identity we see Zosia (Midnight), Marynka (Midday), and even Beata (Morning) grapple with the same ideas of freedom and identity. It was an enjoyable read, with wonderful magical world-building.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, Grief, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Death of parent
abbyschalupa's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, and Abandonment
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sapphic rivals-to-lovers make villainy look fun in this ya fantasy standalone. Inspired by late-18th century Poland, the world is brimming with dark forests hiding heart-eating witches and towns and cities hosting a religious milieu of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. External imperial forces may vie for control of the area, but there are internal magical threats to fear, as well. Our story centers on three monsters created by the Jaga sisters in the forest. These monsters are teenage girls honed into weapons that steal princes' hearts. All flavors of heart are fair game for our predators, but the story follows them as they seek out the ultimate prize: a pure heart. Marynka and Zosia have always been rivals, but this is a competition like no other, one with higher stakes and fewer secrets between them.
It's a furious, action-packed standoff as our monsters try to outperform one another and win the prize. They are unapologetically vicious and powerful as they pass through the upper echelons of society to get close to his royal highness. The tension between the two is palpable and fraught as they come to understand one another as something other than the competition. The third monster, Beata, creates an interesting counterpoint, not caught up in the mutual frenzy.
The world-building here is decadent and festive even with the dark patina of magic and the looming imperial threats. The sapphic romance is chaotic and heartfelt, with an equally resounding mlm love story at the periphery. While the hunt for the heart is resolved by book's end, it still leaves us with a bit of an open ending regarding how these girls will move forward and stake a claim on their own future. I enjoyed the read, especially appreciating the anti-imperialist sentiment, even if our monstrous girls don't exactly take up the cause.
It's a furious, action-packed standoff as our monsters try to outperform one another and win the prize. They are unapologetically vicious and powerful as they pass through the upper echelons of society to get close to his royal highness. The tension between the two is palpable and fraught as they come to understand one another as something other than the competition. The third monster, Beata, creates an interesting counterpoint, not caught up in the mutual frenzy.
The world-building here is decadent and festive even with the dark patina of magic and the looming imperial threats. The sapphic romance is chaotic and heartfelt, with an equally resounding mlm love story at the periphery. While the hunt for the heart is resolved by book's end, it still leaves us with a bit of an open ending regarding how these girls will move forward and stake a claim on their own future. I enjoyed the read, especially appreciating the anti-imperialist sentiment, even if our monstrous girls don't exactly take up the cause.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, and War